Hi, all! I am a bit late getting this post out to you, but I am excited to offer you these fall printables…for FREE. Yep- free download…just for you…and I made them…just for you.
Well, that’s not entirely true. I made them so I could use them, too 🙂 And you can use them to your heart’s content, as long as you give me credit as their creator, and you don’t use them commercially.
1. Quote from Anne of Green Gables
As a kid, I was a major fan of Anne Shirley. I’m STILL a major fan of Anne Shirley. I’m also a major fan of fall.
2. Pumpkin clipart poster
Who doesn’t love pumpkins? They’re practically synonymous with fall.
3. Autumn dreams
Did someone say “pumpkins?”
4. Happy fall with a leaf
Just something simple and cute for you. Nothing too fancy.
As always, please do not use these for commercial use; they are for PERSONAL USE ONLY. To download, right click on the photo and save it to your device. For best results, do not print larger than 10×13. You can print these at home, but I prefer to use a print shop, like Staples Copy and Print.
I hope you enjoy! We will see you Friday and Saturday !
It’s been a minute since we last posted on a regular schedule. We have had quite a year dealing with Covid ramifications so we took a break from regular posting to lighten the load a bit.
And that break was just what we needed. We were able to take blogging off the plate and spend some much needed energy on one another.
Oldest daughter is busy with school but is having a good year, despite the strangeness of starting the school year online. She’s growing up so fast and she is beautiful. Little daughter is adorable and keeps us on our toes.She is full of sweetness and sass.
We also have recently decorated for fall.
My kiddos helped me and we had a blast.
The Lumber fam kitties are doing well, too.
Gray says this the UPS man sure was nice to give him this box to sit on. Daisy thinks her daddy’s uniform shirt is a perfect blanket .
Covid still has our lives basically shut down. No dance, no school and no church. So in the meantime, we try to fill our time having fun together, learning together and doing things around the house.
Recently we completed two small outdoor projects, which we will share with you soon.
But until then, have a blessed weekend! See you soon.
September 11, 2001. Asheboro High School, Asheboro, NC
19 years ago, I was a junior in high school, sitting in my first period class. I was a JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) cadet and we were sitting in our classroom. School had just started and it was a clear sunny day. I almost didn’t attend school that day, as I was dealing with a sinus infection. In fact, my mother had written a note to the school giving me permission to leave at lunch for a doctor’s appointment. Of everything I remember from that day, I can’t for the life of me remember who told us to turn on the TV, but at some point, CNN came on, and we watched with interest, believing what the rest of the country believed- a plane accidentally hit the North Tower. It wasn’t until the second tower was hit that we realized, along with everyone else, our nation was under attack.
From that moment on, the horrors seemed to multiply and get worse by the second. The computer teacher burst into the door to tell us the Pentagon was on fire. My JROTC colonel’s son lived and worked near the World Trade Center, and when the towers collapsed, he still had not heard from him. The relief on his face when he finally spoke to his son was incredible. When I went to the office to sign out and go to my doctor’s appointment, there were so many parents in the office I couldn’t open the door. A man from my church at the time saw me and shouldered me through the crowd. He said, “Their mama wanted the kids at home, so she asked me to come get them.”
For the rest of the day, everything stopped. Teachers quit teaching and we stayed glued to CNN throughout my classes. Radio programming stopped and everything switched to coverage of 9/11. Since no one nationwide was allowed to be in military uniforms, we were made to change out of our JROTC uniforms. For days afterward, everyone seemed numb. Life was incredibly quiet. That day, we experienced the end of normal life as we knew it, and in many ways, things have never been the same again.
Present day: 11 September, 2020 19 years later
I cannot remember at what point the radio and television programming returned to normal. I can’t remember what made us stop class and turn on that TV. At the same time, there are many things I will never forget. I’ll never forget when the second tower fell and the CNN reporter remarked, “There are no words.” I’ll never forget the pictures of the crowded stairwells and the video of people running for their lives through the streets as a giant ash cloud chased them through Manhattan. I’ll never forget the President’s stone faced realization when he found out about the hijackers hitting the World Trade Center. I’ll never forget David Letterman’s tearful tribute to the victims. I’ll never forget the eerie quiet and numbness that enveloped us in the days following.
A few years later as a college student with a minor in criminal justice, I took a class called “International Terrorism.” It was in that class I learned a lot about 9/11- in fact, we had to sign a waiver that if we developed psychological issues from our study on 9/11, we wouldn’t sue the school. I saw many more things that I won’t forget, and many of them, I wish I could.
Years later, as I taught at Southeastern Randolph Middle School, I would learn that a lady who grew up in the same community where I grew up became a flight attendant and was killed on United 93. Each year, our local high school honors the life of Sandy Waugh Bradshaw. I also taught a young man whose brother Christopher Jacob Levy was inspired by 9/11 to join the Marine Corps. He was killed in action while serving his second tour of duty. Today, the students I teach were born post-9/11 and will never know just how much the world has changed. My own children will never understand this.
While the horrors of that day will never leave those of us who are old enough to remember, there is a lesson to be gained from it. At this moment 19 years ago, thousands of people laid down their heads never knowing they had only hours left. None of us know how many hours we have left- we can only live while we can and love our loved ones while we still have them on this earth.
Possibly one of the few good things that came out of the pandemic has been the opportunity to spend more time at home and with the family. But as anyone who’s been stuck in quarantine for months with their loved ones can attest, it’s something that can quickly get old. Indeed, along with the cabin fever of being holed up at home for months on end amidst the fear and uncertainty of the pandemic, it has not been rare for tempers to flare up and relationships to fray. Bored and restless kids start to create havoc, while stressed-out parents become irritable and impatient.
Of course, this is only natural. And while the self-isolation tension itself can further add to the stress of the entire situation, it can also be alleviated with a few lifestyle tweaks. Indeed, how your household spends its time in lockdown really does matter, especially to ensure that everyone maintains mental wellness. Let’s explore the best ways you and your family can use all these extra time so that peace and harmony reign in your home.
Stay Engaged and Productive
Again, bored kids are almost always up to no good, which will test your patience when you’re stuck in isolation. It is for this reason that you must take measures to keep them engaged throughout the day so that they’re never idle enough to make trouble. It’s a good idea, therefore, to have an arsenal of activities that are fun and interesting to keep kids entertained for hours on end. Bonus points if they’re educational, as well, so they can be productive at home, too.
Among the best ways to do exactly that is by making art with kids. It’s fun, simple, and satisfying, plus art materials are affordable and easy enough to acquire. This is especially beneficial for kids with learning disabilities as art can be a wonderful means of self-expression, while, at the same time, encouraging self-confidence where it’s most needed.Â
Use Screen Time Wisely
Now, it’s oft-said that screen time is best limited for kids, especially younger ones, as it can harm their development. While this remains true in isolation, this isn’t to say that they should completely do without. In fact, technology has been a real godsend during the lockdown, and it can certainly help keep restless little minds and bodies at bay. The key is to set real limits and actually enforce them. The quality of what they’re watching, listening to, or playing is even more important, so you also need to control and sanction content.
It’s no doubt screen time will increase as school starts, with children spending more time on laptops and Chromebooks. While this obviously helps keep them occupied when you’re working, too many people on one network can slow things down for everyone, sometimes significantly. Thus, leading to more household tension. If you’ll all be using the internet at the same time, make sure you have enough bandwidth so lag time isn’t an issue. In some cases, it might be worthwhile to switch to a network that’s designed for gaming. These networks provide significantly faster speeds, making it easy to avoid losing your connection during a virtual meeting.
Organize and Declutter Together
It’s easy for paperwork, books, sports gear, knick-knacks and the like to pile up for busy families. When this happens, tensions can quickly flare, especially if everyone is constantly at home together. To avoid this, decide as a family how to effectively organize and declutter your entire home. So it’s not totally overwhelming, have a plan of attack every weekend, with everyone having a set area or plan for cleaning and organizing. Once you’ve got everything organized and cleaned up, you’ll likely enjoy fewer arguments, save time and your home will feel more like the safe haven it’s supposed to be.
Ease Back Into the Outdoors
Finally, as lockdown restrictions are removed in many areas, it may be high time to take your family outside again. Among nature’s many gifts are opportunities for relaxation, which could be exactly what the entire family needs after months spent stuck indoors.
The beauty of this is your family can spend more time outside in so many different ways, as there’s certainly no dearth of things to do. So whether you want to go camping or spend a day at the beach, or maybe take a jaunt to a nearby park or even just your backyard, you will already be offering your family the gift of stress relief and a refreshing cure for cabin fever.
Suffice it to say, time in self-isolation is not at all easy, but there is really no need to add the additional stress and worry of family tension to it. By making use of the right activities and tools like gadgets, as well as nature’s inherent benefits, you can make this extra time at home less tense and more pleasurable, as it should be. Photo via Pexels.com
I know it isn’t quite fall yet; it won’t be fall until the 22nd. However, after the year we have had, I am into doing whatever brings me joy these days. Fall decorating brings me joy- our home is the most beautiful to me when it’s decorated for fall and Christmas. So I decided to decorate early…and I am so glad I did it.
I’m not going to show you every single room in our home, nor am I going to show you every fall decor item. Consider this our highlight reel.
Our living room is one of my favorite rooms to decorate, now that we built the fireplace. I love the orange pillows against the navy plaid chairs. We topped our mantle off with a fall garland, pumpkins, simple white candlesticks and candles, and a fall wreath from my family.
Here’s a close up of our fireplace mantle. Fall pillows and a cozy throw on the couch, pumpkins and fall flowers on the coffee table. Here is our side table in the living room. Here is another view of the living room.
We also have fall pillows and a throw made from my dad’s T-shirts on our family room sofa.
Family room couchA fall throw and comfy pillows make our family room cute and cozy. The family room coffee table also includes this adorable fall vignette with a lantern, vase of fall flowers and acorns.
Our two bathrooms have these pipe shelves, and we have decorated both of them for fall.
Our kitchen, which is under renovation, has a tiny bit of fall decor as well. This pitcher belonged to my great grandmother and I bet she’d love to know I am using it.
Lastly, our dining room is particularly lovely this time of year. My favorite things in the room are this fall runner I bought last year and a set of pretty placemats my grandmother gave me.
Daisy is trying to blend in and appear part of the decor. She is pretty enough to be decorative. Our sidebar has a little fall treatment too.
I hope you have a blessed day, and I will see you again this Friday for a post from a special guest.
